This blog is written as part of a task assigned by Megha ma'am, Department of English (MKBU). The blog related to the novel 'The Joys of Motherhood'. There are two questions related to the novel that are discussed here.
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| Buchi Emecheta |
'The Joys of Motherhood' is a novel written by Buchi Emecheta. It was first published in London, UK, by Allison & Busby in 1979 and was first published in Heinemann's African Writers Series in 1980 and reprinted in 1982, 2004, 2008. The basis of the novel is the "necessity for a woman to be fertile, and above all to give birth to sons".[1] It tells the tragic story of Nnu-Ego, daughter of Nwokocha Agbadi and Ona, who had a bad fate with childbearing. This novel explores the life of a Nigerian woman, Nnu Ego. Nnu's life centres on her children and through them, she gains the respect of her community. Traditional tribal values and customs begin to shift with increasing colonial presence and influence, pushing Nnu Ego to challenge accepted notions of "mother", "wife", and "woman".
Q:1 The title of Emecheta's novel is patently ironic, for it would seem that there are few joys associated with motherhood after all.” Explain.
Ans.
Emecheta’s novel ‘The Joys of Motherhood’ critiques the role of mother in African culture. Through the character of Nnu Ego, the author tries to show the harsh reality of the mother figure. Who has given all his life to her children after suffering her whole life, she ends up dying on the roadside.
From the very beginning Nnu believed in the traditional role of mother. She also used to believe that the more sons a woman has, the more respect one gets in the society. But at the end she receives nothing but sorrow. When she gets married with her first husband, she craves for a son but she fails and ultimately they depart when she breastfeeds the baby of another wife of her first husband.
The title ‘The Joys of Motherhood’ is ironic because, in the story, being a mother does not bring happiness to Nnu Ego. She thinks having children will make her life better and give her respect in her village. But after moving to Lagos and having many children, she finds that being a mother is very hard. She has to work every day selling things on the street to feed her kids because her husband does not help much. Instead of feeling happy, she feels tired and stressed all the time. Motherhood becomes a heavy burden for her, not something joyful.
At last when she is “blessed” with a son with his second husband, he also dies after a short time and she was so disappointed with the death of her son she tries to commit suiside, however was saved by another man. When she gets better again she gives birth to two other children. During that time the family was struggling financially. And additionally Naife also inherits the wife of his brother. She tries to do the business of cigarettes, but societal pressure does not let her continue that. Naife also loses his job in between that adds more struggle in the part of Nnu Ego.
She also gives birth to two twin daughters and brings them up with the same financial struggles. Ultimately when all the children are well settled she gets nothing in return. Her elder son is in the USA, another one is in Canada. Two daughters are at their in-laws. When she needed someone to take care of her she died on the roadside alone. Not a single child of her takes care of her. Her whole life she seeks happiness in her motherhood but fails to do so. It is a harsh critique on the traditional way of Motherhood.
Que: 2. Do you agree with the statement that “Emecheta attempts to expose the gender politics operating within indigenous Africa” in The Joys of Motherhood? Justify your agreement or disagreement with illustrations.
Ans.
Yes I agree with the sentence. African culture is so patriarchal especially in traditional practices. Through the character of Nnu Ego and her life it is proven by Buchi Emecheta. Polygamy is a very common practice in African culture that shows the role of women in African society. Even when a man dies his wives belong to his brother. This is a gender discriminatory and patriarchal society trying to have a right for women to like property.
Buchi Emecheta shows in novel how women in traditional African society are not treated fairly. In Nnu Ego’s village, a woman’s value depends on having children, especially sons. When she cannot have a baby in her first marriage, her husband leaves her, and she is sent back to her father. Women are treated like property because their families receive a bride price for them. If a woman does not have children, she is seen as useless. Even when Nnu Ego moves to Lagos and becomes a mother, her life does not become easier. She has to work very hard to feed her children because her husband does not earn enough. The book shows that African traditions make life very hard for women, and even when things change with colonial rule, they still suffer.
Emecheta also shows that women’s lives do not get better under British rule. In Lagos, men start working for white people, but women are still expected to stay home and take care of children. Nnu Ego has to sell things on the street to earn money, but she is always struggling. Even though she sacrifices everything for her children, they leave her when they grow up. In the end, she dies alone, which shows that both traditional and modern life are unfair to women. The novel makes it clear that African women are trapped between old customs and new problems, and they have no real freedom to choose their own lives.
When a man is married to many women it seems that the women are merely a tool of earning money. Because the women do the household duties and in addition to that they also do work on the farm so the men can earn more money if they have more wives so women are used as a tool to earn money also. When Nnu Ego tries to do the business in the market by selling cigarettes, she can not keep that work up because of the societal pressure and the colonial way of putting women as merely a homemaker.
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References:
Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood. Flamingo, 1988.
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